On December 14, 2022, Thomas Elbrecht was backcountry skiing with his dog in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah when he heard 35-year-old Travis Haussener calling for help. A 200-foot wide, 2 foot-deep avalanche avalanche caught him, covering his everything but his head and one arm. Elbrecht heard the calls and found the man, helping to save his life.

Now Elbrecht, a Unified Fire Authority firefighter, is set to receive the Carnegie Medal, the highest honor for civilian heroism in North America. Each recipient will receive a financial grant, with nearly $45 million being given out since Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Hero Fund 119 years ago.

Upon hearing the calls, Elbrecht followed Haussener’s tracks to the bottom of the avalanche debris. He then hiked up to the man and managed to dig him out of the snow. Due to multiple major injuries, including a broken thighbone, Haussener was unable to return to safety, and Elbrecht couldn’t move him alone. Instead, Elbrecht called for the authorities and alerted them to his position, created a makeshift splint with a ski pole to stabilize Haussener’s leg, and built a small shelter to protect the injured man from the cold.

Over the next several hours, Elbrecht stayed with the injured Haussener. He kept the man dry and warm, swapping out wet clothes for dry spares. A responding rescue helicopter was unable to land because the slope was too steep and the trees were too dense, but a ground crew of two rescue personnel eventually found the duo. More than seven hours after initially being found, Haussener, with the help of Elbrecht, was moved to a toboggan, then to a snowmobile, and finally to an ambulance. Haussener spent several days in the hospital, but was okay in the long run.

It’s super awesome to see this kind of effort awarded. If anyone deserves recognition, it’s people like Thomas Elbrecht.

Related: Northern Escape Heli Skiing Awarded ‘World’s Best Heli Ski Operation’

Image Credit: Unified Fire Authority via Facebook

You’ve likely never experienced -84°F (~-64.5°C). Maybe you’ve experienced negative temperatures. Maybe you’ve even experienced negative temperatures reaching -40°F or -50°F with wind chill. But most people reading this have probably never experienced -84°F.

How cold is -84°F, you ask? While I haven’t personally ever experienced temperatures that cold in my life, I can tell you that it’s cold enough to freeze a glass of root beer as it’s being poured from the can.

Photographer Jeff Capps spent quite a while in Antarctica, documenting his experiences with life on the south pole on Instagram. Let me tell you, it looks darn cold. And yes, he showed the world that it gets cold enough to freeze a glass of root beer as it’s being poured from the can.

Temperatures Of Antarctica

Obviously we’re all skiers, so most of us can handle the cold fairly well. Go stick your hand in your freezer, though. See how cold that feels. It’s typically recommended that those sit right at or below 0°F. It’s pretty darn cold, and I imagine, if you left your hand in there for quite a while, you’d get fairly uncomfortable.

The average temperature at the South Pole during the summer is 18 degrees colder than the recommended freezer temperature (-18°F). Now, depending on where you live, you might have experienced temperatures that cold while skiing, snowboarding, or just generally living your life (I’m talking to you, East Coast).

The average winter temperature at the South Pole, on the other hand, sits at a nice and warm -76°F. That you probably haven’t experienced. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was a frigid -128.6°F (-89.2°C). In temperatures below -10°F, it can take just 10 minutes for frostbite to set in. Imagine what it would feel like in -120°F?

Related: How To Prevent Frostbite When Skiing And Snowboarding

Image Credit: Jeff Capps via Instagram

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just build your own skis? Rip a nice big hole in the bottom of your all-mountain skis? Just build new ones! Need a super wide powder ski for an unexpected powder day coming up? Make that 120mm ski, you can do that!

Honestly, if you’re a skier who grew up doing any sort of woodworking or general workshop work, you’ve probably thought of building your own pair. I grew up with extremely little workshop experience, but I still dream of slapping together my own set. Unfortunately, the equipment needed to build an actually useful pair of skis is extremely expensive and not very easy to get your hands on, basically making it impossible unless you have access to an existing ski shop with the necessary tools.

Getting access to something like that usually means working in a place like that, or at least being really close to someone who works in a place like that, which most of us probably aren’t. If you’re spending a bit of time in the Chamonix Valley, though, and have a few days to spare, you can head over to Ronin Skis, where Build Your Own Skis experiences are available.

YouTuber and IFMGA guide Dave Searle went to Ronin Skis to build his own skis, and he filmed it all and shared it with the world. So far this is just a part one, so he doesn’t actually finish the skis in the video, but it is pretty darn interesting to see the early stages of the process.

“In this video we meet Jonno, the owner and creator of Ronin Skis Chamonix (https://www.roninskis.com/) and we begin the process of making my Custom 108 LTE skis. The process was fun and rewarding and I learnt loads about ski building and sustainability in the ski building industry. I would strongly recommend checking out their ski range and remember you can also build your own ski’s in Chamonix.“

Related: Skiing on a Budget: 15 Ways to Save Money While Skiing This Winter

Image Credit: Dave Searle via YouTube

Sugarloaf, Maine’s largest ski resort, is closed today, December 19, due to major road and infrastructure damage. Yesterday’s storm, which left hundreds of thousands of people without power along the East Coast, damaged the mountain, parts of the resort’s village, and roads leading to and around the resort.

Sugarloaf has not yet released an estimate on when they will reopen, but an update is at some point today. Carrabassett Valley Police posted an image of a washed out Route 27, the road leading to Sugarloaf’s access road, at the Redington Bridge near Tuft’s Pond Road North. The police department requested early this morning that nobody attempts to access Sugarloaf at this time.

Other posts show water rushing over the major roads throughout Carrabassett Valley, washing out the bank along the side of Route 27. The nearby Carrabassett River can be seen rushing nearby, and water flows can be seen flowing towards ski cabins.

Farmington, Maine, home to the University of Maine Farmington, the small Titcomb Mountain, and one of the major routes to both Sugarloaf and Saddleback (which is also closed), can be seen suffering from major flooding in posts made to Facebook. Some images show what appear to be washed out sheds, near fully covered vehicles, and water up to the top of street signs and the large McDonald’s sign in town.

If you’re in an area affected by this storm, please stay safe! If you’re at Sugarloaf, stay dry and try to avoid driving anywhere. If you’re not at Sugarloaf, don’t try to go. Road closures will certainly prevent you from getting there, and road conditions will likely make any drive unsafe.

It’s sad to see all of this damage throughout New England. Hopefully these mountains, including Sugarloaf, Saddleback, and Sunday River, can get things repaired quickly, and hopefully some snow will hit the ground in the near future so the East Coast ski season can get going once again!

Related: One Of Sunday River’s Roads Washes Out Due To Heavy Rain

Image Credit: Carrabassett Valley Police Department via Facebook

There really is a sinking feeling that comes from a massive lift line at the resort. You wake up early, fuel up, get everything on, and head out the door, only to see that you’ll need to wait a cool 15-30 minutes just to get on the chairlift for your first run. Or maybe you got to the mountain before everyone else, wound up among the first few, and didn’t even realize how big the line got until you made it onto the chair or made it back down after the first run.

I know it’s cliche to complain about lift lines these days. But man they really suck. (I know, I know, by riding the lift, I’m part of the problem). Even worse is when the route to the lift line is crowded. That’s when you know your day is gonna be rough.

Maybe it’s a massive line at the shuttle stop. Maybe it’s crowded walkways around the resort town. Maybe it’s a clogged-up stairwell. Swedish skier Emil Granbom found a way to skip those clogged up stairwells, based on his recent Instagram clip.

Okay, okay. This isn’t the most remarkable video on first view. Few resorts even have escalators for you to skip the stairs, so this probably isn’t a helpful tip for most people. In fact, it’s probably best to not do this even if there is an escalator, as it could quite easily lead to an injury.

But take a minute to think. Granbom is grinding up the down escalator in ski boots, with skis in hand. That’s pretty absurd. I know I’d fall trying this, or at least give up an eighth of the way through. Talk about a pre-ski warmup!

Related: I Had No Idea How Dangerous Stuck Mountain Bike Shocks Can Be

Image Credit: Emil Granbom via Instagram

Arc’teryx Equipment recently announced a three-year partnership with the Natural Selection Tour, the backcountry freeride snowboard competition co-founded by Travis Rice. According to a press release from the company, as a part of the partnership, Arc’teryx will act as the Official Outwear Sponsor of the competition beginning in 2024.

“I am super excited to see Arc’teryx partner with Natural Selection for the next three years. This event is all about highlighting progression, style, and pushing the boundaries. This aligns so well with Arc’teryx brand values around product design. I believe this partnership is the ultimate opportunity to continue to elevate snowboarding.” – Natural Selection Rider and Arc’teryx Athlete Elena Hight

Throughout the first season of partnership, Arc’teryx is set to outfit the entire Natural Selection crew. Riders and behind-the-scenes crew will be given gear to help the safely and comfortably organize, prepare, host, and compete in this year’s competitions.

“The crew that produces Natural Selection Tour events are some of the burliest in snowboarding. Often located deep in the backcountry, our venues are chosen for the terrain, snow conditions and what will be best for snowboarding, never for comfort or ease of access.

With that we rely on gear that will keep the crew warm and dry for intense 12+ hour days; setting up the venue, building features and running all the production gear. Arc’teryx is built for the conditions we work (and play) in and we’re thrilled to work together in the years to come.” – Natural Selection Tour COO Liam Griffin

The 2024 Natural Selection Tour will take place in three stages, the Natural Selection DUELS, the YETI Natural Selection Selkirk Tangiers, and the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke. The DUELS are set to begin in late February, with locations in Colorado, Switzerland, British Columbia, and Japan.

Related: Opening Scene To This Japanese Snowboard Film Is Brilliant

Image Credit: Natural Selection Tour via YouTube

Professional skiers almost always need to grind incredibly hard to get to the top. Not just in training, either. In order for them to actually earn sponsorships and places in competitions, so they can build a life around the sport, they need to market themselves and their skills to companies and organizers, and that takes a lot of work.

Lupe Hagearty is a pretty darn well known name in the freeski world. Filming alongside the likes of Tanner Hall and Tom Wallisch, it would be hard to argue that he hasn’t “made it big”. But it hasn’t been a cakewalk. Lupe’s mother passed when he was five and his father struggled with addiction throughout his childhood. He fell in love with the sport while on a ski trip in Vermont with his extended family. Financial hurdles still impact his life, despite working towards being among the best for most of his life.

We got wind of Lupe’s documentary, titled ‘Lupe’, back in September, and have been eagerly awaiting its release since then. The near 40-minute film (posted to the X-Games YouTube channel) covers his childhood and adulthood grind towards the top and the struggles he continues to face despite already being there.

“Now 30 and living in Salt Lake City, Lupe has had a successful career as a pro-skier for over a decade, filming with legends Tanner Hall and Tom Wallisch and competing in X Games Real Ski in 2021. But the challenge is far from over. Despite living out his dream, Lupe still struggles to have the financial security to one day have a family of his own, grinding each year to renew sponsorships and continue living out his dream. As the Christmas holidays approach, he travels home to his family in Hartford, CT, confronting his difficult past and reflecting on his career, trying to figure out what is next…“

Image Credit: X Games via YouTube

Around a year ago, a trailer for a ski documentary managed to really catch our attention. “Going Greenland” promised to be a renewable-energy-powered skiing adventure through the fjords and mountains of, you guessed it, Greenland, alongside professional skiers Rachael Burks and Jessica Baker.

Rather than taking helicopters, planes, snowmobiles, or big ol’ gas guzzling boats around the arctic territory, the two (and their crew) rely on a sailboat run on renewable energy, allowing them to enjoy the land without contributing to its destruction.

“In this award-winning documentary, Going Greenland, MHW athlete Rachael Burks and her ski partner Jessica Baker combined a renewable energy sailboat with an arctic ski expedition in Greenland, enduring a harrowing and inspiring journey along Greenland’s west coast fjords and towering mountains.”

The short documentary actually premiered back in January of this year (nearly a year ago), but online access has been unavailable until last week. If you’re looking for something to watch while eating your breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or you’ve just got twenty minutes, I highly recommend this award-winning documentary.

Related: New Documentary Covers Unique New York Ski Area

Image Credit: Mountain Hardware via YouTube

Everyone likes to brag about the coolest place they’ve skied. Skied in Colorado? Brag about it. Skied in Canada? Brag about it. Skied in Europe? Brag about it. Skied in Japan? Definitely brag about it.

Ski in some random place that nobody’s ever heard of? I’d say it depends where. If we’re talking about some tiny ski hill in the midwest, maybe hold off on bragging about it (we do love the tiny ski hills, though! Give access to skiing wherever it’s possible!). A tiny ski hill in Africa, though? Or a wicked ski area in India? I’d say that’s worth bragging about.

So, if you’re looking to book an exotic ski trip over the next few years, the people at mountainsight have created a list of the 10 most exotic ski resorts in the world.

“There are some truly exotic ski resorts in the world. We’re talking about resorts in places like India, Africa, Pakistan, and even Mongolia, which not everyone knows about. If you’re looking for ski spots that break away from the usual, here’s a roundup of 10 exotic places to hit the slopes!“

Most of these aren’t incredibly unheard of to me, or at least incredibly unexpected. Pakistan, India, Turkey, and Kyrgyzstan are all known to have some pretty monstrous mountains, so it’s not entirely surprising that someone decided to put some lifts up in those countries.

But Mongolia, Cyprus, and Morocco? I think most people would be a bit surprised to hear that those areas had ski resorts. South Africa and Lesotho? Neither of those countries are known for their snow. It would be a pretty cool experience to try to check off as many of the most exotic ski areas around the world as possible.

Related: 10 Things Mikaela Shiffrin Can’t Live Without

Image Credit: mountainsight via YouTube

I know most of you don’t need told this, but entering closed terrain on the ski area is a bad idea. There are a whole load of reasons why terrain might be closed, including (but not limited to) lack of snow, avalanche danger, dangerous terrain, difficult access for ski patrol, or, simply the fact that it’s not a part of the resort’s terrain.

Also, importantly, closed terrain does not mean ski at your own risk. Gated backcountry access is one thing. You’re welcome to head into that kind of terrain, as long as you have the proper knowledge, experience, and an avalanche beacon/shovel/probe. Gated backcountry is ski at your own risk, and it will be marked as so. Closed terrain is closed terrain. Don’t go there.

In case you need a little reminder as to what closed terrain is and what it means, here’s the crew at Whistler Blackcomb to explain the different signs and closures.

It’s important to note that different resorts might have different signs and signals for different types of closures. Check and understand your resorts symbols and closure signs! If it says closed, I can guarantee you that means it’s closed.

Again, I hope most of you know this already. I hope most of you don’t need this reminder. Maybe just show this to your kids, maybe make yourself watch it in case you have a nasty habit of ducking ropes. Just keep in mind, entering closed terrain could endanger not just you, but the patrollers who may need to rescue you and the public below or around you.

Related: “Check Yourself, Check Your Friends” A Simple Message About Backcountry Ski Safety

Image Credit: Whistler Blackcomb via YouTube